October 13, 2016
Morning Service

Jerry:  The History of the Bride of Christ Fellowship

Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

        This has been the battle cry for the last 41 years.  It is an invitation to those who are thirsty and desire the water of life to come and we will point you to Jesus Christ who is in the business of changing lives.  Jesus Himself said “If anyone thirsts let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37).  Jesus told the woman at the well this:

 

Joh 4:13-14 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, (14) but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."

        We continue to teach and stand firmly upon the words of Jesus as He said this in the Gospel of John:

 

John 14:6 “I am the Way the Truth and the Life and no man comes to the Father except through Me.”

        We preach and teach a relationship with our Savior and the changing life power of the Holy Spirit.  There is no other way to receive the gift of eternal life except through Him.  It is through Him that our thirst is quenched and our deepest needs of having our sins forgiven and having a relationship with our Creator is granted undeservedly.  It is through Him that we are made whole, complete and content.  It is through Him that any chains that bind us to this old sinful world are broken.  He sets us free and makes all things new.

           

Jon Carl: “Chain-breaker”

 

When we meet Jesus and accept the free gift of salvation as well as accepting His invitation to “Follow Me,” that is only the beginning of our journey with Him that lasts a lifetime.  This relationship changes everything in our lives.  We have been given hope, peace, joy, contentment and feel more loved than ever before.  It is that love that we are given that causes us to want to follow Him even more closely.  Jesus told us this:

 

Joh 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

            We follow and serve our Lord and Savior not out of guilt or duty, but simply because we love Him.  He who paid the price for our sins not once we cleaned up our act, but while we were still sinners deserves and desires our loving devotion.  He simple asks us to “Keep my commands.”  He called us to the “Light of the world.” (John 5:14)

 

Brittany: “You Can’t Be a Beacon”

 

        Our calling to follow Jesus is a call to action. Over the last 41 years, Jerry has modeled what it means to follow Jesus as he has led this Fellowship guided by the Holy Spirit.  God has used each of us to play a part in the growth and evolution of the Bride of Christ Fellowship into what it has become today.  Looking back, it has been a beautiful journey as we remember many of our own who have already completed their journey and now patiently wait to meet us again at the resurrection.  Just this week we lost our brother Willie Wilson far before we were ready.  We miss them all tremendously as we have had to step up and fill their shoes in their absence, but God has been faithful to us and empowered us to carry on.  In the present, we have seen God moving greatly and mysteriously in our lives and we are all excited about what the future holds for us.  We have been called to “Fight the good fight” each day until Jesus returns for us and we stand ready for the challenge together in unity.  We are better together with each of us using our God given talents to make our church stronger, just as God designed it.   We get a glimpse of what our future holds this morning as our children are now going to sing for us.

 

Children:

 

Our journey together has been one filled with much joy and also one with many sorrows.  We have celebrated at the many births, weddings, healings and baptisms along life’s journey.  Our hearts are filled with much awe and wonder as we witness God continually moving among us.  He has been faithful to comfort our many tears as we have wept together over losing our loved ones and the many tough trials we have endured together.  God has led our journey all these years and I am thankful that Jerry was faithful to answer God’s call and has been able to lead us this far.  He has been and is our “White haired warrior!”

  I am also very thankful for each of you that have been a vital part of this journey.  God has saw fit for our paths to cross inside the walls of this church and I find comfort in knowing we are going the right direction.  We are better together.  We are much more than just friends, but we are brothers and sisters in the Lord.  We are family.  You make us better.  Each of us has a part to play and I pray we all do as Paul commanded “do it heartily unto the Lord.”  One willing and yielded person who has given his all to the Lord can make a difference in this world.  Look around you this morning and know that this all began at an altar in 1969 when Jerry said “Yes” to the Lord; with God all things are possible.  I leave you with that thought as we will close with this video that displays what I am trying to say very well. 

 

Heavenly Father great is thy faithfulness unto us over these past 41 years.  Guide us along the path that You have prepared for us in the future and may in the end we be found pleasing in Your sight.